Rainy St. Petersburg

As I mentioned earlier, I had a study trip to St. Petersburg in Russia with my school last week. So we were a group of international students with two teachers, and as it was a study trip, we didn't have that much free time for our own exploring of the city. Nevertheless we were able to experience a lot and even meet some new friends. :) I just wish I could have practiced my Russian more.

The first day was spent mostly in traveling, since from Finland the easiest way to reach St. Petersburg is by train. It was raining when we arrived, so the stopovers for photo sessions during the city tour by bus were quite short. However we managed to see some of the most famous sights: the former residence of Peter the Great, the war ship Aurora, countless palaces and churches and some historical streets. Actually the whole center of the city is full of the historical buildings and no modern block buildings at all - you can find the more modern buildings further away from the center. It really feels like you're in an old city. Also in the evening, I went for a walk with the girls to see the city during night time. It was so beautifully lit, and we even ended up at the Palace Square where the famous Winter Palace is standing - if you have seen the cartoon Anastasia, you know what place I'm talking about. :D Our hotel was close to the main street called Nevski Prospekt, so it was a short distance pretty much everywhere.

Nevski Prospekt at night.

Bronze horseman, the symbol of the city.The millionaire's street - the name is because only rich people could afford living close to the Winter Palace.The Winter Palace at night.

On our second day we went to a Russian university to have a lecture about Russian culture and a tour around the mining museum, which was in connection with the university. Mostly it was just different kinds of rocks, mining equipment and some fossils. Since we are tourism students, our schedule also included a visit to a 5-star hotel Astoria, where even some famous people like George Bush and Madonna had stayed. Eventually we could also see the presidential suite, which really was quite huge with two bedrooms, a living room and a working room. After the hotel visit we had some free time, so I visited the St. Isaac's cathedral museum and the viewing platform at the edge of the cathedral dome. I must admit that I'm afraid of heights, so despite all the nice views around I had to stay as far away of the railing as possible. On the same evening I also visited another cathedral called Kazaan with my Russian friend Liza. The atmosphere was quite nice and peaceful, since there was a service going on at that moment. We didn't stay for long though, since we didn't take part in the service.

The presidential suite in Astoria.

St. Isaac's cathedral.The city from the viewing platform of St. Isaac's.
Kazaan cathedral.

The next day was pretty much the same, with a lecture at a different university and another 5-star hotel visit. At some point of the hotel visit, half of the group went missing because they had gone to the wrong floor with a lift and the guide used like 20 minutes before finally finding them. So I had to rush to get to the metro and meet Liza again at St. Paul's and Peter's Fortress. At first I was quite surprised when I went to the metro and it felt like the escalator went down and down with no end, but later I heard that the metro in St. Petersburg is 100 meters below the ground - no wonder it took so long before the escalator finally reached the bottom. Well, unfortunate for us, inside the fortress the church where the tombs of former tsars were located was closed. :( So we ended up just walking around the fortress and chatting on the way. In the evening we met some Russian students and went to eat some traditional pancakes with them, and I swear I have never eaten so good pancakes in my life. After that we even ended up to some random bars, but since I was so tired of all the walking already, I returned to the hotel quite early. And actually I didn't really like the habit of people smoking inside the bars. Also, this was the only sunny day during the whole trip - most of the time it was either just cloudy or raining.

The church where the tsars' tombs are. It's nice on the outside too, but I hope one day I can go back to the city and visit inside this one.

The riverside with old buildings.If you were able to drop a coin on the stone, you could make a wish. :) I didn't manage to do it, but one of our students succeeded on the first try!

On our fourth day, we finally visited the Hermitage art museum which is in connection with the Winter Palace. As you can imagine, the palace was totally amazing with all the decorations and huge ball rooms. The other three buildings and the second floor of the palace were mostly dedicated for paintings from different centuries and countries, and even some museum-like rooms with items from places like Japan or Egypt. In a way the whole place reminded me of Louvre in Paris.

The whole Hermitage with all the four buildings. Winter Palace is the big green one on the right.

Inside the Hermitage.

At the entrance to the Winter Palace.

Endless rooms... And a bit too many paintings for me.

Throne of Peter the Great.

After the Hermitage we had a visit to a tour company, and after that some free time. Me and my Spanish friend went to visit the Resurrection church, which is also called the Blood church because it was built in memorial of one tsar who died on the same spot where the church was constructed. It was the third time we tried to get inside: the first time we came ten minutes after the ticket sale had closed, and the second time it was closed for the whole day. But we were lucky to get inside, because the place was totally amazing. The walls and the floor were totally covered with pictures made of mosaics, so it was like a rainbow inside. In the middle of the roof there was a picture of Jesus, which was quite impressive because everywhere you went, he was watching you. :D Later in the evening we had a farewell dinner with our group in an elegant restaurant with even some live band playing jazz. Luckily the school payed for the meal.

The Resurrection Church.

Inside the church - mosaics from floor to roof, and the Jesus in the middle.

Finally on the last day of our trip, we took a bus to Tsarskoe Selo ('Tsars' village') and Catherine's palace, where the tsars and their families had spent their summers. The village felt comfortably calm and silent after the central St. Petersburg, and it was nice to listen to the guide tell about the history of Russia and the life of the tsars. The palace was also beautiful, although only a few items were original since most of it had been destroyed in wars. The most impressive thing in the palace was the Amber room - of course not original either, but a whole room made totally out of amber is surely worth seeing. Unfortunately, taking pictures was forbidden in the room. :( On our way back to the city we visited one more church before arriving to the train station, buying something to eat for the journey home and stepping on the train. After St. Petersburg, Finland felt so empty. :D

Catherine's palace.

The ball room inside the palace.

The last church where we stopped to take some photos. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of this place anymore.

One thing I was disappointed in was the food. We ate a traditional, full course meal every day - salad, soup, main dish, bread and dessert - but somehow all the food was somewhat tasteless. Some soups were nice, and also the buckwheat and beef thing on one restaurant, but mostly I was expecting for more. Well, at least the pancakes were awesome, both salty and sweet ones. Also I was a little surprised for how expensive the city actually was, but it might have been also because we stayed in the center close to all the tourists attractions and because the last place I visited before Russia was the extremely cheap China. So well. :D

The buckwheat meal.

Pancakes!

Anyway, even though the weather was rather bad, it was a nice trip overall. The city is beautiful and full of stories from history, and I'm sure it's even more beautiful during summer. There's a lot to see and experience. But of course, knowing at least how to read Russian would be really useful, because sometimes there were no English translations for example for the street signs. Still St. Petersburg was surely worth visiting, and especially for me it was nice to see the home town of some of my friends and finally visit the neighboring country of my own home country. :) Who knows if I'll go back some summer.

★ Maani